I never thought I'd be happy to see music industry people moving into my neighborhood, but they might bring a little more culture with them compared to the typical wall street types (no offense to typical wall street types - some of my best friends, etc. etc.)

RIAA can kiss my ass.

Poor EMI, I don't want to hear about any poor record companies. It was their unwillingness to adapt in the mid/late 90's that is leading to their demise (And I'm the sucker that still buys 3 albums a week). If the idiots that ran these companies had any foresight rather then just trying to prolong their gravey train they would have promoted services like napster and developed better methods to charging for their service. Instead they fought and saw a new service that steals their product pop up everyday. The only way that the record industry is going to remain is through licensing. It is only a matter of time until we are all able to download from itunes for pennies a song music that has no DRM. I really despise some of the heavey handed tactics that the record industry has used in the past to combat a changing market place, they should have looked to revolutionize rather maintain the status quo.

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Ouch. So moving here is a sign of a failing business?

IT'S TIME TO MIX IN SOME IPODS and skinny jeans with those long-faced I-bankers on the morning PATH train to Jersey City.

New York Observer -- Feb 19

In a move that represents entertainment?s first step toward the Jersey waterfront, the record company EMI has a lease out in Jersey City, a source confirmed. The lease will be between 30,000 and 50,000 square feet, he said.

To EMI, the move means much-needed cheaper rents. To New York City, this means there?s another scary smell coming from Jersey.

For years, there?s been a nagging worry among New York?s real-estate gatekeepers that rich tenants would flee Manhattan in favor of Jersey City?s shinier buildings and cheaper rents.

But no major industries have made large moves to Jersey, other than finance (and even then, big business has been shelving back offices there, not top executives).

EMI, though, is about to ante up.

Consider the Jersey discount: The average office rent on the New Jersey waterfront is $30 per square foot, according to CB Richard Ellis. Rents in midtown south, where EMI has offices at both 150 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron district and at 304 Park Avenue South, are at $52 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Could this be the start of a media exodus from Manhattan?

?I don?t think anybody sees Jersey as a threat to the city?s media industry,? said Kathy Wylde, the head of Partnership for New York City. ?Brooklyn competes harder..?

Companies like EMI might need to consider it, though. Despite a No. 1 record from Norah Jones this week, the company?s sales numbers are sagging.

The source with knowledge of the deal didn?t confirm which of its addresses EMI give up in Manhattan, but the record company?s 50,000-square-foot lease at 304 Park Avenue South expires this year.

EMI has been reshuffling space lately. One of its subdivisions, EMI Music Publishing, is moving into a 65,000-square-foot space in Chelsea, away from two offices in midtown.

A group led by Mitch Konsker at Cushman & Wakefield represents EMI. He declined to comment
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EMI Taking 35,000 Jersey City Feet

New York Observer -- Feb 21

More news on that Jersey EMI lease. It looks like EMI will be taking the entire 15th floor, for 35,000 square feet, at Plaza 10 in Jersey City, a source said. The Observer reported the news first last week.

Poor EMI. The company is buckling so much that Warner Music wants to chat about a takeover again.

And now EMI is the first big name in entertainment to buckle and fall to the Jersey waterfront.

- John Koblin